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William Delafield Arnold

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William Delafield Arnold

Birth
England
Death
9 Apr 1859 (aged 31)
Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Burial
Gibraltar, Gibraltar Add to Map
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He was the fourth son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School. His older brothers included the poet and critic Matthew Arnold and the literary scholar Tom Arnold. Not long after his father's death in 1842, William, a student at Rugby School, was involved in the writing of the official rules of rugby that are still in effect today: "Rugby Rules were written on August 28, 1845 by three students, William Delafield Arnold, WW Shirley and Frederick Hutchins"

William served as an educational administrator in Punjab, in British India, where one of his biggest achievements was to enact a law separating church and state in public schools. As a result, Hindu students who attended public schools were no longer required to study the Koran, or the Bible. This policy would later go on to influence public schools in England as well.

While in India, William wrote several articles for "Fraser's Magazine," mainly on "the India question". In 1853, William published a novel of Anglo-Indian life, Oakfield; or, Fellowship in the East, which explores the inherent "common ground" between spiritual traditions East and West, while also predicting the "mutiny" that would occur shortly after. William died at Gibraltar, on his way home from India. Matthew Arnold's poem "A Southern Night" mourns his brother's early death. William's orphaned children were adopted by his sister Jane Martha and her husband William Edward Forster.
He was the fourth son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School. His older brothers included the poet and critic Matthew Arnold and the literary scholar Tom Arnold. Not long after his father's death in 1842, William, a student at Rugby School, was involved in the writing of the official rules of rugby that are still in effect today: "Rugby Rules were written on August 28, 1845 by three students, William Delafield Arnold, WW Shirley and Frederick Hutchins"

William served as an educational administrator in Punjab, in British India, where one of his biggest achievements was to enact a law separating church and state in public schools. As a result, Hindu students who attended public schools were no longer required to study the Koran, or the Bible. This policy would later go on to influence public schools in England as well.

While in India, William wrote several articles for "Fraser's Magazine," mainly on "the India question". In 1853, William published a novel of Anglo-Indian life, Oakfield; or, Fellowship in the East, which explores the inherent "common ground" between spiritual traditions East and West, while also predicting the "mutiny" that would occur shortly after. William died at Gibraltar, on his way home from India. Matthew Arnold's poem "A Southern Night" mourns his brother's early death. William's orphaned children were adopted by his sister Jane Martha and her husband William Edward Forster.

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